Sterilization trays are used in the medical profession for holding medical instruments. The sterilization trays may be inserted into an autoclave for sterilizing the medical instruments. The sterilization trays may also be used for transporting medical instruments and may be used in various medical settings, such as in an operating room, to retain and organize medical instruments for surgery or other medical application. In these settings, the sterilization trays are exposed to the same contamination hazards as the medical instruments.
Sterilization trays generally are made porously. That is, the sterilization trays are made to allow cleaning fluids, including liquids and gasses, to pass through the trays. Porosity is achieved by forming openings all about the sterilization tray. Within the autoclave, liquids and/or gasses permeate the sterilization trays to clean the medical instruments within the sterilization trays as well as the inner surfaces of the sterilization trays.
Sterilization trays generally are arranged to allow medical instruments to sit flat within the tray and keep multiple instruments from jostling against each other. In particular, sharp medical instruments, if allowed to jostle about within the sterilization trays, may bump the tray and lose some of its carefully honed edge, may bump the handles of other instruments and damage those handles, and may retain some fragment of the other handles on its blade, which may then be introduced beneath the skin of a patient. As a result, sterilization trays are frequently designed to segregate the instruments. Segregation of instruments is generally achieved by attaching brackets, dividers, or other items to the sterilization trays to hold each instrument or establish barricades between instruments.
When a bracket, divider, or other item is attached to the sterilization tray, a crevice is created between the item and the sterilization tray. The crevice may receive a contaminant while exposed to contamination hazards. Further, the crevice effectively may shield the contaminant from the fluids and/or gasses of the autoclave, impeding removal of the contaminant. As a result, construction of sterilization trays frequently involves minimizing the existence of crevices and attempting to create seals in these locations to minimize the entry of contaminants into the crevices. Seals, however, do wear down, particularly with the regular and rigorous cleaning effort of the autoclaves.
Another problem with many sterilization trays is weight. Sterilization trays are transported by nurses, primarily. With instruments, sterilization trays can weigh as much as thirty pounds. Nurses have been known to remove brackets and other interior pieces of the sterilization trays to diminish the weight of the sterilization trays, exposing the medical instruments to damage.
Thus, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the industry to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.